Ms Johnson, who is based in Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre, is one of three regional nurses recruited to Cancer Council Victoria's primarily Melbourne-based support hotline, 13 11 20, in a bid to help better guide regional patients and their carers.

While the support line has always been open to regional Victorians, drawing on a database of regional support services, Cancer Council found many patients and carers had the misconception the support help would be Melbourne-centric.

Ms Johnson said this was a chance to offer her experience and understanding from working in varied rural and regional services to help all patients to access services that best first their needs.

Now a day oncology nurse, Ms Johnson brings a wealth of background in general and oncology nursing from regional Western Australia to Rockhampton in Queensland and big hospitals in Melbourne.

Ms Johnson hoped to help fill in the gaps.

"I've seen both sides of it. Even a lot of people in the city hospitals coming from regional areas," Ms Johnson said.

"I do have a lot of experience working in small, regional cancer services and you can often see the added difficulties regional patients have in accessing support.

"...For a lot of patients, travel is a huge thing. There are all the doctors appointments and treatment that can mean they are in hospital every day. Many often have to leave their home for the duration of their treatment.

"Everyone is facing challenges when they are facing cancer and the financial aspect is a big one - it can be quite difficult for a lot of patients to stop working and leave home for treatment."

Regional nurses from Ballarat, Geelong and Stawll have joined the Cancer Council Victoria support team under the Victorian Health Department's ACCESS Project (accessing cancer care equitably using support services).

The support hotline and email service is staffed by cancer nurses to offer practical and emotional support as cancer patients and carers navigate the health system and community services.

Ms Johnson said COVID had greatly changed the health system with a lot more people prepared to using technology and remote services, like telehealth, but it could still be overwhelming.

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Cancer Council Victoria support services lead Katherine Lane said Ms Johnson's experience and on-the-ground knowledge was already proving invaluable. Her regional knowledge was shared through the team and Ms Lane said this could also be adapted to take into other regional areas, like the state's east.

"It's always been part of our job to refer to local services in the community and to local GPs (general practitioners) but to have a physical presence in regional Victoria means the information we transfer back and forth is far more up-to-date," Ms Lane said.

"Lis has already directed us to services we would have no way of knowing without local, regional knowledge.

"It's the simple things we're doing that can have a big impact."

The Victorian support line is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. While nurses cannot give individual medical advice, they can talk about the effects of different cancers and cancer treatments and offer tailored information and support programs.

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